Leh-Ladakh family tour in mid-July: Advice needed

Hi

I have read the forum carefully and understood the risks of going to high altitude place like Ladakh. I have planned following itinerary. Please comment. Suggest changes.

I am traveling to Leh with my family and planning this tour on my own. We are flying to Leh and will fly back from Srinagar. The whole period of tour is 8 days: 15th July-22nd July. We are basically going out to stay together in a different and exciting place and not to visit each and every place of interest.

15th - 1000hrs - Reach Leh. Wait (acclimatize)
16th - Try moving/walking around. Get permits. Maybe visit the palace/Shanti Stupa/Hemis.
17th - Start late. Reach Nubra valley by day end. Stay overnight at Diskit.
18th - Spend the day, rest. Reach Leh by the end of the day.
19th - Go for rafting Phey-Nimu.
20th - Leave for Kargil by hired vehicle. Do magnetic Hill on the way. Reach Kargil, if possible Sonamarg, by night. Stay for night. (Or does Drass sounds a good trade-off ?)
21st - Visit Drass War memorial on the way. Spend some time at Sonamarg. Reach Srinagar by day end. Stay for night.
22nd - 1200hrs - Fly back to Mumbai


How does that sound ? Hopefully not rushed.

1. Pangong Tso seems too far away. (Also the thought of people being flocked and clueless @ what to do next is repelling to me). So I'm reluctant to include it. Should I rather include it than to visit Nubra valley ?
2. Rather than visiting lot of places and get typical tourist experiences we would absolutely love to experience unique and different flavour. Is is possible anywhere along the itinerary to actually live the local life perhaps staying locally with the people ?
3. Purposefully kept rafting experience the last. This is what we intend to do. Consider that for all of us, this is going to be first experience but on 5th day of tour. Is this advisable ? We totally want to do this, if this is okay health wise.
4. I read on the forum that a vehicle can be hired for complete journey from Leh and around till Srinagar. Is this really possible ? Can I book this on the spot ?
5. We want to spend at least one complete day at a descent hotel that gives us a good view + peace upto 4k per night. Where would that be ? Can you suggest any hotels ? We will be compensating this for budget hotels elsewhere. For now I have assumed the place as Diskit.
6. In general for a trip in July, should we pre-book our stay ? Or is it rather okay to do booking on the spot ?
7. Is it possible to drive upto Sonamarg in one day ? Basically where is the night stay advisable, at Sonamarg or Kargil or better still Drass ? We intend to spend some time in Sonamarg and that way will also will get some more time in Srinagar to meet some local friends.

Ok. A lot of questions . But I'm pretty sure, I'll get some good advice.

Can someone please take a look ?
Thanks

Welcome to IndiaMike!

I haven't been to Leh, but hopefully bumping this back to the top will help you get a reply.

Okay. So bumping this to the top once again !

(Prob'ly I should've chosen a better title... )

Mod Note
I have moved your thread to the Ladakh forum and modified your title. (Your duplicate thread in this forum has been deleted.)

Pangong Tso is a must visit( though there was a landslide yesterday)
Rafting is fine and you might think of including it when you are leaving for Kargil(same route),stay at Mulbek shud be advisable
Nubra valley is good and you could plan it for second day, make sure you dnt spend more time at khardungla on way.
Dnt spoil urself and others by spending 4k a night at Deskit or any other place in Ladakh

First read this ladakh in less than 5 days though your plan does not fall under the category for which this post was made, but this will definitely will clarify a lot of things as you have a short trip to ladakh.

I am happy you are not trying to do "everything" in your limited days .

Below are a few comments which will help you plan better.

You will be able to walk around
You can do shanti stupa on day 1 eve if you are not feeling AMS effects.

DO NOT start late on anyday on the tour unless you plan to relax at the same point. Like your day 2 for permits- you should start late.

I did not get why was the late start required, but my take is the earlier the better and reach your destination before dusk.

You cannot reach Sonamarg on the same day, Zozilla is a mighty pass which you should not do after dusk.
My take is take a halt in malbek/kargil , I do not think Drass has any options for stay. And do the war memorial on this day so you have your next day free only to do zozilla and reach sonamarg/srinagar as per your plan.


No you are good with your plan of nubra- the thread i suggested earlier should have clarified this.

Most of the places would be good view
If I understand you correctly - you think diskit is where you would compensate at a cheaper cost and not a so good view?

Well just so you get a perspective - check out the below pix from my last years tour in Diskit.

The view from the window -



The view from the terrace of our room where we could have had our tea or dinner if it was not raining-


The location of the hotel -

The inside of the rooms -


And guess what was the cost for which we bargained for?

If my memory is right (will confirm from office as my diary is at my workplace, where I am currently trying to complete my travelogue )

I paid INR 600 for the 3 of us without food- and We had a geyser in our bathroom. Loved the hot water shower after the rainy day at khardungla

So the point is go and check out the hotels, dont think money will buy you the best view (at times it might, so the debate is not that). What was good for me might not be for you but I loved the view and the place.

and lastly

We stayed at a homestay at Hemis - Amazing experience ! Try to find a homestay in a place which you love and you should be able to know the wonderful people of ladakh.

I did read that before I posted.
Okay. The late start was to give some more time for acclimatization. Also I roughly calculated that we can reach Nubra valley by the end of the day even if we start a little late.

Ok. I'd agree. Can you tell me apprxl'y when I'll reach Srinagar if I leave Kargil by, say, 7:30 am ? I guess an hour at Sonamarg and snow would be sufficient ?

That sounds good. Thanks for the photographs !
This is awesome !!! We would surely do this. Can you please tell me more about it ?

Okay. Where is good rafting facility available along Leh-Kargil route ? Could you give me any links ?
And how was the one I referred to ?? (But that was at Phey...in opposite direction)

Sorry to say this at such a late stage , but you have a lost the best opportunity to acclimatize by staying in Kargil at the end of the tour , instead of the beginning.

All Ladakh itineraries that include Srinagar should start from Srinagar.


Flying in to Leh I recommend that you see a doc and discuss medicating with Diamox - background info here and here .

Thanks for the links. I did discuss this point with our family doctor. He opined that people with no breathing problems ordinarily should not take any such medicine.

A GP that disagrees with specialist consensus .... I would get a second opinion.